Former world champions Vishwananthan Anand and Hou Yifan notched big victories to help Ganges Grandmasters begin the inaugural Global Chess League on a winning note. Ganges Grandmasters defeated the Chingari Gulf Titans 10-4 on Thursday night. In the other tie, upGrad Mumba Masters eked out a thrilling 8-7 win over Triveni Continental Kings.
Starting off the proceedings five-time world champion Anand used his experience while capitalising on the advantage of playing with white pieces to get the better of 2021 World Cup winner Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
For the first time ever, chess is employing the practice of flipping to decide the colour of the pieces.
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The entire team plays with the same colour of pieces, unlike in standard chess events where both teams have an equal number of black and white boards. In the new circumstances, the side playing with white pieces has the initial advantage of the first move which might prove valuable for the outcome.
Anand’s early victory gave an important boost to the Ganges team. Four-time world champion China’s Yifan was the second to score, defeating another former women’s world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk in a thrilling game. Those two victories were the only decisive games of the match as the other four ended in a draw.
“My team started well and that’s great. We are in unchartered waters here. This is a new vibe for chess. We all came here curious to see what will happen and how this will play out and so far it is proving to be exciting and promises a lot,” said Anand.
Mumba Masters edge past Triveni Continental Kings
Having lost the toss and playing with black pieces, the Mumba Masters rode on Russia’s Alexander Grischuk win to emerge victorious (8-7) against the Triveni Continental Kings.
The Masters’ had their icon player France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on the opening board against USA’s Levon Aronian. Both settled for a draw and shared a point each.
However, it was on the second board that Grischuk showcased his heroics with late decisive move to pull off a victory and the crucial four points against Chinese Grandmaster Yu Yangyi.
The victory gave the team an important advantage as a win with black pieces counts as four points compared to the three points awarded for a win while playing with the white pieces.
Yu’s compatriot Wie Yi then scored a victory against India’s Vidit Gujrathi, earning three points but the Kings were still a point short.
The Indian women chess duo of Harika Dronavalli and Koneru Hampy and Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov managed to pull of draws to ensure a thrilling one-point victory.
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